Certificate Program in Contemporary American Music

A one-year post baccalaureate program for students in performance, composition and music technology at UMBC

Opportunities for teaching stipends may be available for qualified students in the
2012-2013 academic year.

FEATURED STUDENTS

Nicholas White, guitar, Justin Mann, composition, and Jacob Housand,composition, present their works:

Fine Arts Recital Hall, UMBC
Apr 22 – 2 PM – White and Mann in Recital
               4:30 PM – Housand in Recital

An Die Musik, Charles St, Baltimore
Apr. 26 – 8 PM White, Mann and Housand
                Featuring UMBC performers Dr. Michael Richards, Dr. Lisa Cella

Nicholas White was accepted at the Longy School of Music (Cambridge, MA) for their Master of Music in Modern American Music Program. He received a scholarship and an Ambassador Assistantship to represent the school at various events throughout the city. He was also accepted at Manhattan School of Music, SUNY Purchase.

He will perform several works along with compositions by fellow certificate student Justin Mann at upcoming concerts including a recital at UMBC on Sunday, Apr. 22 at 2:00pm and at on Friday, Apr. 26 at An Die Musik in Baltimore. An Die Musik, an increasingly important East coast venue for classical chamber music, has welcomed UMBC students for several years.

Certificate student Jacob Housand’s music will be featured at UMBC on Sun. Apr. 22 at 4:30pm. The varied program will include chamber music for strings, winds and piano.

Justin has been commissioned by Dr. Zachary Lyman, Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Music Theory at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington to compose a piece for solo trumpet and piano  and a  trumpet ensemble work, both for the 2012-13 season.

FACULTY PROFILE

E. Michael Richards (M. Mus. Yale, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego) is currently Professor of Clarinet and Chair of the Music Department As a recitalist of new music, he has premiered over 150 works throughout the US, Japan, Australia, and Western Europe. With pianist Dr. Kazuko Tanosaki, he has commissioned works from many prominent composers, and organized symposia and published scholarship on contemporary Asian music.

Among his many honors are a residency grant (Cassis, France) from the Camargo Foundation to complete a book - The Clarinet of the Twenty-First Century. He has subsequently completed similar books for bass (1996) and E-flat (2000) clarinets, and has just completed a revision (2009) of these three texts that includes more than 75 etudes and exercises, a DVD-Rom and Video with recordings of examples and etudes/exercises in surround sound, 23 CDs of musical examples, and an interactive multi-media website. Richards has been recorded (CD) on the NEUMA, Mode, CRI, and Sony DADC Austria labels.

He is a guest artist with the Ensemble for New Music at Towson University and the Verge Ensemble (ensemble in residence at June in Buffalo 2009), and a founding member of RUCKUS (contemporary music ensemble of UMBC). He received a 2010 Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Council of the Arts, and a 2011 USM Regents' Faculty Award for Excellence in Research/Scholarship/Creative Activities. Dr. Richards conducts the UMBC Orchestra in addition to his many other activities. Recent graduates of Dr. Richards’ studio have earned assistantships at UC San Diego and seats in regional orchestras.

ALUMNI NEWS

Tomoko Bajo MacIntyre (UMBC-2006), clarinet, former student of Dr. Richards, recently won first prize at the Chieri International Competition in Milan. After earning her certificate at UMBC, she gained her M.M. from Eastman School of Music, studying with clarinetist Jon Manasse.

Ariana Lamon-Anderson, (UMBC-2008) clarinet/bass clarinet is currently based in SanDiego, CA. She earned her BM and MM degrees at the Peabody Conservatory in 2007 under the tutelage of Edward Palanker, and a Certificate in American Contemporary Music from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2008 under the direction of Dr. E. Michael Richards. Ariana has performed in Europe and throughout the US. Along with performing, Ariana is truly passionate about teaching and sharing music. She is currently pursuing her DMA in Contemporary Performance at the University of California, San Diego. In the accompanying picture, Ariana is playing bass clarinet with Caleb Herron in the DMC Duo, appearing at the Tribal Café in Los Angeles this year.

Danielle Spaeth (UMBC-BA, 2009, Certificate 2010) recently earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee with an emphasis in flute performance where she studied with Caen Thomoson-Redus and served as a Graduate Assistant for the Department of Bands. Mrs. Spaeth completed her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in flute performance at UMBC where she studied with Dr. Lisa Cella. Mrs. Spaeth was a recipient of the Linehan Artists Scholarship, a merit based scholarship for outstanding academics and musicianship. Upon graduation, she was a recipient of the UMBC Achievement Award in Music.